In its “Across the Aisle” coverage, Free Speech for People takes a look at the growing transpartisan movement that is calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and reclaim democracy for “we the people.” Blog. Reports: 2013, 2014.

Polling

September 2015 by Selzer & Company on behalf of Bloomberg Politics: “Unhappiness with the 2010 decision cuts across demographic and partisan and ideological lines. Although the ruling was fashioned by the court’s conservative majority, Republicans oppose Citizens United 80 percent to 18 percent, according to the poll. Democrats oppose 83 percent to 13 percent, and independents, 71 percent to 22 percent. Among self-described liberals, conservatives, and moderates, 80 percent say the decision should be overturned.” Article. Poll. Further: “Among other issues polled, campaign finance reform garnered some of the strongest support among Democrats and Republicans. Nearly nine in 10 Americans want campaign finance rules changed so that the wealthy don’t have more influence than those without money.” Article. Poll.

June 2015 by The Wall Street Journal and NBC News: “Asked to rank their top concerns about the upcoming presidential election, one-third of Americans pointed to the sway that companies and wealthy individuals may have over the outcome, more than for any of five other issues tested.” Article.

May 2015 by The New York Times and CBS News: “Americans of both parties fundamentally reject the regime of untrammeled money in elections made possible by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling and other court decisions and now favor a sweeping overhaul of how political campaigns are financed.” Article. Poll.

July 2014 by Democracy Corps on behalf of Every Voice: “There is overwhelming cross-partisan support of a Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United . . . Voters support such an amendment by an overwhelming 73 to 24 percent margin, including majorities in even the reddest states.”

November 2013 by MFour Market Research and Tulchin Research on behalf of Represent.Us: More than seven in ten voters believe that our election system is “biased in favor of the candidate with the most money,” and more than nine in ten think that “it is important that ‘our elected leaders reduce the influence of money in political elections.'”

April 2012 by Opinion Research Corporation on behalf of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law: “[T]he 2012 election cycle has given rise to significant, bipartisan fears of corruption and heightened distrust in government.”

Toolkits

#GetMoneyOut action site, including information, resources, and ways to get involved in the fight to build a democracy where the size of your wallet does not determine the strength of your voice in our government and where all citizens have an equal voice in deciding who represents them, including by constitutional amendment

American Promise action site, including ways to get involved in restoring democracy with the 28th Amendment: from your computer, in your home, and in your community.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Why have so many different constitutional amendments been proposed? Wouldn’t it be better if everyone were pressing for the same language?

Answer: Right now, as the movement builds for taking the “for sale” sign off of our democracy, one of the most important things we can do is to help educate and mobilize our friends and neighbors — and elected officials — to get involved and take a stand. There are a lot of really good ideas about the best way to amend the Constitution, and continued debate and dialogue on that and other important issues will only help build the momentum. So right now we believe it’s important to focus on our common agreement that America works best when our government is of, by and for the people and that to achieve that end we must amend the Constitution.

Question: What is the process for amending the Constitution?

Answer: An amendment has to be proposed either by a 2/3 vote of both houses of Congress, or else by a constitutional convention convened when the legislatures of 2/3 of the states so request. The amendment has to be ratified either by the legislatures of 3/4 of the states, or by conventions in 3/4 of the states, depending on which means of ratification Congress proposes. All of the amendments to the Constitution, of which there are now 27, were proposed by Congress, and all but one were ratified by state legislatures. The convention route has never been used for proposing an amendment, and was used only once for ratifying an amendment (the 21st, which eliminated Prohibition).